HAWAII – An army man was sentenced to life in prison Friday for the murder of his five-year-old daughter who was forced to endure beatings, eat her own feces and whipped with a belt because of “bathroom accidents,” officials said.
The federal jury in Honolulu who found army soldier Naeem Williams, 34, guilty was unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether to send Williams to death row for the murder of his daughter Talia Williams, authorities said.
Jurors found that Naeem Williams killed the child on July 16, 2005 by beating and punching her at the family’s residence on Wheeler Army Airfield in Honolulu.
Williams was also convicted of participating, along with his wife, Delilah Williams, of assault and torture against the child from December 2004 until July 16, 2005, officials said.
In addition, Williams was convicted of conspiring to engage in a pattern and practice of assault and torture leading to death, obstructing justice, and making false statements to Army Criminal Investigation Division agents on the night of his arrest in July 2005, officials said.
The evidence at trial indicated that Naeem Williams and his wife beat Talia Williams almost daily.
Naeem Williams testified that the abuse was aimed at disciplining his daughter as a result of bathroom accidents and was exacerbated due to frustrations he was experiencing in his marriage.
The evidence indicated the defendant’s physical abuse included punching Talia repeatedly, commanding her to eat her own feces, and using duct tape to bind her from head to toe to a bed post where she was whipped with a belt.
In the hours preceding Talia’s death, Williams struck a frontal blow to Talia and her head slammed backwards against the floor. Talia then appeared to have a seizure, authorities said.
Talia Williams was 4 years old when she arrived in Hawaii to live with her father and stepmother, Delilah, in December 2004, according to Star Advertiser newspaper.
By the time she died seven months later, she had experienced food deprivation and almost daily beatings, first with a plastic ruler, then a belt at the hands of her father and stepmother. The beatings continued with her father using his fists, the newspaper reported.
Delilah Williams, who is serving 20 years for her role in the child’s death, testified that she also stomped on Talia and lifted her up by the hair, sometimes pulling out clumps of it, according to the Star Advertiser.